It has been more than a month since I wrote about choosing a new color for the walls of my sun room. That post, Fifty Shades of Beige, ended with  this picture:

and the promise: To be continued…

Then one thing led to another, until yesterday, nearly six weeks later, the project was finished. I wouldn’t call it a total transformation, but I think it’s a very nice one.

So here’s what happened. First, I narrowed down my color choices to a more manageable group.

After a fair amount of holding paint chips against furniture, carpet, and trim—and quite a bit of agonizing—I narrowed it down to one. My color would be called sand. It’s not a poetic name by any means, but it’s a nice color.

Bill the painter came and did his magic. My friend, neighbor, and decorating consultant, Dee, came over before the paint was even dry. She gave it her stamp of approval. Then, as we sat and admired my walls, she asked if I had ever considered window treatments in the sun room.

No, I said, I hadn’t. I didn’t want to block any of the light pouring into the room. That was the whole idea of a sun room. There would be no drapes, not even valences, in that room.

I was just thinking that would make the room look more finished, more polished, warmer, she said.

I agreed to think about it, and she left. Of course, from then on, whenever I looked into the room, it looked… well… not quite finished, not quite polished, not quite warm.

And the decision process began again. What style of window coverings? Valances, scarves, panels? What fabric? What color? What kind of rods for them to hang on?

I did my Internet research, following up with visits to the stores to see how the colors actually looked. I bought samples, brought them home, returned them, started over. This was making the paint selection look easy in comparison.

Then, as they say, life got in the way. My mother had a mild stroke. I spent my days in the hospital, then in her rehab facility. I had no time or energy or interest in window treatments.

But Dee didn’t give up. And now I understand why that was a good thing. I very much needed to be distracted from life and death matters. I went back on the search for window treatments when I could find time.

Yesterday, it all proved worthwhile when my new drapes went up. I finally chose semi-sheer panels that let the light pass through. And Dee and Steve, who put up continuous decorative rods for me, arranged the panels so that almost no light is blocked.

Take a look. Here are my before and after pictures. I must warn you, the colors aren’t quite accurate. The room looks even prettier in person.

Before:

And after:

Before:

And after:

I love it, I love it, I kept telling them.

Then I made a fatal mistake. I mumbled something about flooring, perhaps laminate… And they were off and running.